1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a separation-type air conditioner, and more particularly to a performance testing method of air conditioner adapted to simultaneously test performance of indoor units and outdoor units on a production line for simultaneously assembling the indoor units and outdoor units.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a separation-type air conditioner includes an indoor unit and an outdoor unit, where, between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit, there is a communication line for reciprocally receiving and transmitting data of operation state (temperature, humidity, outside temperature, operational frequency, motor revolutions per minute of each indoor unit, etc) and a refrigerant pipe for infusing and discharging refrigerant.
A conventional production line for assembling a separation-type air conditioner having a separate indoor unit and outdoor unit is separately equipped with an indoor unit line for assembling the indoor unit and an outdoor unit line for assembling the outdoor unit, and the indoor and outdoor unit lines are respectively mounted with testing systems for checking whether the quality of each set is good or bad.
In the conventional production line where the indoor units and outdoor units are separately assembled, a test system of the indoor unit line sequentially performs each test of an indoor unit and comprehensively analyzes the data therefrom to inspect the performance (good or bad quality) of the indoor unit, while a test system of the outdoor unit line sequentially performs each test of the outdoor unit and comprehensively analyzes the data therefrom to inspect the performance (good or bad quality) of the outdoor unit.
However, there is a problem in the performance test method of separation-type air conditioner according to the prior art thus described in that production lines are separately installed for the indoor units and the outdoor units, inevitably forcing tests to be done separately for the indoor units and the outdoor units, thereby prolonging an operation time. There is another problem in that investment cost is increased due to overlapped systems. There is still another problem in that in separate testing of indoor units and outdoor units, it is difficult to correctly discriminate the capacity of cooling and heating which results from circulation of coolant flowing between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit.
Examples of separation-type air conditioners of the conventional art are seen, for example, in the following U.S. Patents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,010, to Sato et al., entitled Separation Type Air Conditioner, describes an air conditioner with indoor, outer and remote controller units at different locations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,770, to Kim, entitled Mounting Assembly Of A Separate Type Air-Conditioner, describes an air conditioner with separate indoor and outdoor units affixed to opposite sides of a building wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,178, to Shyu, entitled Noise Control Of Air Conditioner, describes an air conditioning apparatus which performs a test to determine optimum speeds of the motors of the apparatus, to minimize vibration.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,824,921, to Kanai, entitled Method And System For Testing Performance Of Refrigeration Units, describes an assembly line having a test line capable of operating an air conditioner in a simulation mode and measuring a physical quantity in this simulation mode. The patent describes testing of the outdoor unit of a separate type air conditioner.